Mawgrim

Fire Lizards are rediscovered in about seven Turns, when F'nor is convalescing after being knifed.

Thank you. I wanted to convey the sheer horror of the stuff from the point of view of someone who's only heard about it in stories.

Lessa has strong telepathic powers she often uses in situations where it seems necessary.

Thank you. Hortaimin's father and Vikkel would definitely got along. Their attitudes are typical of the older, hidebound holders on Pern. There will be a sequel, but not right away.

Ninth month began with everyone waiting expectantly for the eggs to crack. ‘I know it says “five heated weeks” in that ballad, but that’s just a rough estimate. Babies are supposed to be born after nine months, but some decide to come out early while others hang on a bit longer. It’s nature.’ Bavi stirred her pot of garments, the steam rising all around her. ‘I just want it to be over with,’ Kadin said. ‘The suspense is killing me.’ ‘Best not die before your dragon hatches. Althou

The sequel isn't complete to the point I feel it's ready to start posting yet. I've had some health problems, which limits the time I can write in a day, so at the moment I'm not able to churn out chapters at the speed I'm used to. I may post an old cinema story for the nostalgia buffs out there to keep going until then.

Good thinking, except you credit me with too much foreshadowing. When I finished writing 'Gone Away, Gone Ahead', 'To the Weyr' was only a scribbled mess of ideas. So you may or may not be right.

I've mentioned a few growth spurts, but prior to getting plentiful food at Benden, he was more of a bean-pole, tall and skinny. Now, with good nutrition and exercise, he is beginning to fill out. Hortaimin's personality may attract a needy dragon. Perhaps finding a partner who loves him unconditionally (as all dragons do their riders) might make all the difference to him. But we shall see.

D'gar is trying not to make the same mistakes he experienced from authority as a candidate and weyrling. Dragons communicate all the time, so as soon as Ramoth feels her hatchlings becoming restless, she will inform Herebeth as one of the first to know.

Jevikel has been raised not to expect good things to happen to him. He wants a dragon, but he's been told enough they are the ones who choose a rider, so he's resigned to whatever colour picks him. He admires the green riders and can see (partially thanks to D'gar's teaching) what a useful role they play in fighting Thread. As for Hortaimin, wait and see. Risking other people's lives is not a good characteristic, although he showed a certain amount of decency by rescuing the drudge who was caught by the watch-wher.

A sevenday passed. Jevikel was glad to have finished midden duty, although Hortaimin and Narrirec had now taken that task over as part of their kitchen duties. Hortaimin seemed far more subdued than before. The others from Lemos had begun to integrate to a certain extent with the rest of the candidates. Having done midden duty along with Tafush, Jevikel had even spoken to him a few times and found out a little more about Hortaimin. ‘His father never took much notice of him. He had two older

Determination has got me through so far. Eating well and continuing exercise has helped, too and all my neighbours and friends have been very supportive, as has my husband. Writing is my escape, so I will certainly continue with it. When I’m feeling good, I try to do as much as I can, so if I have a few days when it’s not possible, I still have material to edit and post. Thanks for your comments. I want to be around for a long time, too!

Thank you. I'm hoping to finish the story by tomorrow evening, so it would be a real help if you could edit it. It'll be around 5000 words, I reckon.

I try to be positive most of the time, but sometimes it just gets you down. I'm on steroids now which has helped a huge amount with the pain, but the amitriptyline makes me doze off all the time!

I tend to take to the blogs section to whinge, so here goes. I have been living with cancer for almost four years now (well, four years since diagnosis, but it was obviously invading various parts of my body before then.) Long story short - diagnosed stage 4 December 24th 2018. Great Christmas present. Treatment (chemo and radiotherapy) started early in 2019, knocked me for 6 and the spinal damage left me unable to walk more than a few paces and having to use the kind of gadgets normally reserved for the very elderly - things to pull of your socks, jar openers and grabbers to pick up stuff from the floor. Various drugs have kept me fairly healthy since then and it was during my rehabilitation I decided that as my life was likely to be considerably shorter than the average, I should avoid stuff I found boring and concentrate on what I love doing. Besides, when you can't walk too well, sitting in front of a keyboard has its advantages. I began writing my Dragonriders of Pern fan fiction early in 2020 and considered I had enough material to begin posting online around June. Since then, it's been like a roller coaster. If only I could have been so prolific before I got ill. But I wouldn't. There were always other things to do. The motivation of posting a weekly chapter and responding to reader's comments is as good as completing a really satisfying scene. Becoming a Promising Author on GA was like winning an award. I have loads of ideas about things I want to write. Trouble is, I don't think I'll have the time. Lately, I've been deteriorating again. My liver lesions are stable with the tablet chemo I'm on, but it's my spine that's causing a lot of problems. Earlier in the year my left hand index finger and middle finger went numb as a result of nerves being pinched, or abraded by the bony growths. Now it's spread to the right side and I'm also experiencing balance issues and trouble walking again. My grip and arm strength is so weak, the doctor advised me yesterday I should stop driving for safety reasons. Most of this has happened frighteningly fast. I'm trying to finish my anthology story, even though I can't type as fast as I used to. I'm almost through the last chapter of 'To the Weyr' and I'd love to write the sequel but I'm frightened I won't be able to finish it. Pain makes it hard to concentrate on writing, as does fatigue and some medication side effects. I hope I'll be around to do everything I want to do, but at the moment, I can't be sure. Whinge over. PS - The phrase 'living with cancer' always makes me think of living with a very inconsiderate flat mate, who uses up all the milk in the fridge, never empties the rubbish and trashes the loo.

D'gar has less experience of Hold and Craftbred people, as when he was raised at Fort, candidates were more likely to be Weyrbred, whether from his home Weyr or transferring in from another. He's generous enough to give Hortaimin another chance. Whether this was a wise move remains to be seen. I’m sure Jevikel and Kadin will reveal where he's from once he feels safe enough.

This may well be the case, but with only a short time before the Hatching a lot will depend on which dragons (or not) Jevikel and Hortaimin Impress.

Jevikel is probably the best person to bring both sides together; he's had experience of both Hold and Weyr life and an identify with both.

You are giving me ideas!

Very good summing up. As a third son, it would be unlikely he'd ever get to be Holder, but I expect he has been trained sufficiently 'just in case'. His idea of leadership is sadly lacking. Whether he can (or will) learn his lesson is uncertain as yet.

If he Impresses a bronze then we might have a F'drun junior. After all, he who should not be named was a bully from childhood, then the privilege of being a bronze rider and therefore having the ability to scale the Weyr hierarchy made him worse.

Here's hoping hard work in the kitchens might change his ways.

Hortaimin has just discovered he can’t get his own way at the Weyr. D'gar is always ready to give people second chances.

I'm thinking his father is a bully, hence Hortaimin growing up to be one, too. Jevikel always tries to do the right thing and his actions will certainly prove his maturity. Many of the books stress the 'no sex while dragons are young'. In 'Threadfall, D'gar and S'brin got round it by working out what did upset the dragons and found they had no problem with their humans having sex. D'gar always thought the ruling was there more to prevent any lover's tiffs or jealousy causing trouble among the weyrlings.